Oh, Darling
by qu33n b33
Summary: CPR? Kiss? True love? No one really knows for sure, and Apple just wants to forget about it. Where does this leave Darling? (In character commentary on The Debate. Rated for implied homophobia.)


**Hello! I watched this entire series yesterday so any mistakes are probably because of that.**

 **Anyways, this story takes place after Dragon Games. It's inspired by the "CPR vs Kiss" debate. I, personally, view it as a kiss and I like Appling. However, I've seen a lot of stories that go the other way. What I wanted to do was write a story that debates CPR vs Kiss, considers the characters feelings, AND doesn't sweep it under the rug with "so and so isn't gay!"**

 **So, here you have it! Let me know if anything needs to be fixed; Reviews are appreciated!**

* * *

No one knew what to do.

Everyone had seen what had happened, or had heard about it from Blondie or others, so there was no hiding or ignoring it.

But the fact remained that no one knew what to do next.

Apple just laughed nervously when the 'kiss' was brought up. She wouldn't confirm or deny anything, and anyone near her when it was brought up felt pangs of sympathy for the poor princess.

Darling wouldn't speak about it at all. It seemed as if she wanted to forget the event entirely, which was surprising to most people. Many thought she would be thrilled to be the hero in someone's story, but the sadness in her face when she was near Apple told them otherwise.

Everyone else had split opinions.

It wasn't a kiss.

It was CPR.

It was true love's kiss.

It didn't matter what it was.

Depending on who you asked, there were a lot of reasons for and against the kiss, and no one knew for sure what it was. Least of all the girls involved.

It made things tense at Ever After High.

* * *

Eventually, Apple made her decision. After long uncomfortable silences and uncertain glances, she had grown just irritated enough to act on her impulses. She didn't know what it meant or how she felt, but she knew that it was no one else's business, and she wanted to shut it down.

"It didn't mean anything."

It was at their lunch table, and her friends were clustered around her. They all knew immediately what she meant as she glared down at her lunch tray. She tried to avoid eye contact with any of them—especially Daring and Darling—and pressed on.

"I mean, we don't know for sure what happened, so why bother worrying about it?"

Raven gave an impressed nod. Darling picked at her lunch and said nothing. Daring drooped, but put a supportive arm around his girlfriend. The others all had looks of sympathy, mainly for Darling, who stood up and walked out of the castleteria in silence.

That hadn't been something Apple considered. She wanted to pull Darling aside and tell her it was a front, that they were still friends and she still cared about her. She only wanted the rumors to go away, and some time to think. But she was afraid that doing so too soon might scare her away even more.

Apple sighed. It seemed there was no easy solution. She was scared; scared of what it all meant for her happily ever after. She just wanted to be happy with who she loved, and she knew, true love's kiss or not, that it wasn't Darling.

"Did I do the right thing?" Apple muttered to her friends as she picked at her food. Her appetite was suddenly gone. They all glanced at each other, and no one had a definite answer. On the one hand, it appeared Darling had been affected by this. But on the other, it would help stop the rumors and speculations that tortured both of them.

Briar could only offer a cautious, "You did your best."

* * *

Darling, meanwhile, was in pain.

Not physical, but she would almost rather it be. Her heart and her mind both ached as she went over again and again what her friend had said.

"It didn't mean anything."

Darling knew that. She had tried to give CPR; it wasn't her intention to be the Charming of Apple's story, and of course they were just friends before. And that was all she wanted to be.

So then, why did it hurt so much?

In part it hurt because it had been Darling's chance to be the hero in someone's story, and not the damsel. That much was obvious. But even as important as that was, she was more than willing to put Apple's needs and wants before her own.

But that didn't explain the sense of dread and disgust in the pit of her stomach. She almost felt like she was going to be sick, and she couldn't figure out why.

That is, until she heard Dexter and Hopper talking.

Just out of sight, she heard her twin's familiar voice and knew instantly he was talking about her.

"I knew it." Dexter had said, sure of himself, "The tales were exaggerated. Of course my sister isn't Apple's Charming."

"I thought she was." Hopper said shyly, "But I guess they're not like that."

Not like that?

The ache in her stomach grew, and she backed away from the lockers. Not like that. It hurt, and it felt weird, and it was uncomfortable. But why?

"See, they're not that way."

"I guess it would have been weird."

"Poor Apple…"

Suddenly the halls were alive with students, and Darling realized Blondie must have spread what Apple had said around the school. Left and right students commented on her and Apple, and how they were and weren't.

 _It's not fair!_ She wanted to scream, _You can't say this about me! I don't even know this about me!_

Wish shame and embarrassment, she slunk away slowly with her head down.

At least she had figured out the problem.

The problem with the problem, however, was there wasn't a good solution.

Cerise had been the first of her friends she had seen after lunch. She at least seemed happy and aloof, and told her that Apple had instructed Blondie to make a special broadcast to announce what she had said at lunch.

While it hurt, Darling understood why Apple had done it. Her happily ever after had been on the line, and Darling couldn't blame her for any of it. Besides, she didn't like Apple like some people had begun to think she did.

"The rumors should stop soon." Cerise assured her, "People won't think you're like that anymore."

There was a beat of silence between them in which Cerise's smile was easy-going and comforting. She meant well, Darling knew, but the implications of that statement made her dizzy. She wanted to be angry and bite back at the statement. _Like what_ , she wanted to demand, _What am I like?_

But that was wrong. And it made her feel sick.

"Right." She said in a sure, steady tone that contradicted how she felt, "W-well, I'll see you later, okay?" And without another word, she began to walk in the other direction. Cerise knew when a friend needed space, and Darling was grateful she wasn't followed.

* * *

It hadn't taken her long to realize—once she thought about it—that along with wanting to be the hero, she wanted the princess that came with it.

She'd never really thought about it like that before, but she liked the idea. Her and a princess, a princess and her. It made her happy to think about. She didn't want to just own a princess like some princes and knights, she wanted to _love_ one.

The idea made her blush and question everything she knew. She had heard tidbits of other girls who had similar wants, but it didn't often match up with their stories, so she never heard much else. It made her a loner, in a sense. Sure other students had forbidden love—love outside of their stories, usually—but how did her situation fit into that? She wasn't even sure what her story _was_.

She wandered the grounds outside, alone with her thoughts, and found herself almost growing happy again. Thoughts of princesses and holding their hands and kissing them… She smiled to herself as her heart fluttered at the thought.

But the present problem was still troubling. How could she express to everyone what she was feeling? Did she even want to? What if they took it wrong, and thought she was complaining?

She realized, then, that of course she was okay with how Apple felt. What she wasn't okay with was the sinking feeling that her friends thought she was weird or wrong for wanting a princess. For being "that way."

These thoughts were almost too much, and she leaned her back against the wall behind her and sunk to her knees. She had messed up without even doing anything wrong, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to talk to her friends, but she could barely pin down the problem let alone the solution. And as she grew more irritated, she grew more fearful that she might hurt someone because of how she felt.

She never wanted to hurt anyone, even if she herself was in pain.

"Darling?" Raven's concerned voice made her look up quickly, and she smiled.

"Hi, Raven!" Her forced smile was obvious, and she couldn't bring herself to care. She knew it wouldn't work, even if it was convincing. When her friends were concerned, they got right to the bottom of it.

"I found her!" Raven waved her arms in the air as she turned around to yell at the others. Apparently they had all been looking for her, and she felt relief that they still cared so much. She dimly realized she hadn't actually done anything wrong and that they didn't know about her realizations, but the relief still helped.

"We've been looking for you since lunch." Raven knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Darling realized she must have been gone for longer than she thought if they had been looking for her that long. She had no real sense of time, and honestly didn't even know for sure where she was outside of 'at the school'.

She had zoned out a bit more than she thought.

"J-just… Thinking, I guess. I lost track of time." She scratched the back of her neck and ignored the worried look Raven gave her. As the others came over—Briar, Cedar, Blondie, Cerise, and… Apple—she looked down at her lap. She hadn't expected so much attention, and she didn't know what to do about it.

"Come on, Darling, you can talk to us." Blondie said gently as her and the others kneeled around her, "We're your friends."

"Is this about the…" Apple couldn't even finish her sentence, and Darling felt a bitter taste in the back of her throat. She couldn't even say it. Couldn't even pretend to like what had happened.

Darling knew it was because of how it changed Apple's destiny—or would, if it was true. She knew it wasn't personal, or that it meant she didn't like her. And yet, she still couldn't get over how it felt. Her friend's wouldn't acknowledge it, wouldn't even pretend she was… _Like that_.

"Yeah." Darling almost snarled, and several of her friends drew back in surprise. "It's because of _that_." She realized she couldn't say it, either, but at least it hurt her. She found herself slightly bitter at her friend, and she didn't want that.

Apple cringed and clasped her hands together. "I… I should have talked to you first. Or at least before I asked Blondie to make the announcement. I don't know what bothered you, b-but… I'm sorry."

Darling wrapped her arms around herself and refused to look up. She didn't want Apple to feel bad… Did she? No, she assured herself, that wouldn't solve anything and she didn't want her friend to be hurt.

But… She felt a little better, at the apology and the thought that her friend was sorry.

"I'm sorry, too." Blondie admitted, "If anything I did made you upset."

The others nodded in agreement, and Darling felt her resentment fade away even more.

"Darling?"

Apple's concerned voice made that feeling of discomfort in her belly grow, and she felt her face heat up in shame. They wanted her to forgive them, to say it was all okay and move on. But she wasn't sure she could, or wanted to. They had hurt her, and while they apologized they still didn't know why.

She would have to tell them. But her throat was dry and sticky, and her fingers scratched her arms nervously.

Raven was the first to get closer, and she wrapped an arm around Darling. Darling leaned into her friend and sniffled, which made Raven stiffen. When she wiped at her face with her hand, the others shifted uncomfortably. Darling? Crying? Slowly they all realized just how much their friend had been hurt, and each felt guilt and shame.

Apple moved closer but not close enough to touch. "Oh, Darling…" She herself was near tears at the idea of hurting her friend. "I'm sorry, whatever I did. I promise not to do it again if you tell me what it is."

"It—it's silly." Darling managed, half whisper. "I sh-shouldn't be s-so upse-set." Her normally assured and strong voice quivered and she barely restrained herself from full on sobbing at the guilt, shame, and embarrassment she felt.

"If you're upset then you're upset." Raven said gently, "And if you tell us what it is, we can help. We don't want to see you like this, Darling."

Her friends all grew closer and murmured comforting and assuring words while she regained her mental footing. She was so embarrassed that it had come to this, she wanted it to just be over. To say she was fine, and that they could all move on until the next time something came up.

But when would be the next time? The next time Cedar, Briar, and Apple tried to talk about boys and she couldn't contribute? The next time someone was that way?

At this point there was no way any of her friends would just let it go, anyways, so she hung on.

"Is it because of what I said?"

Darling looked up, teary eyed, and looked at Cerise. The other girl had sad eyes and was obviously concerned and guilty. With a sigh Darling nodded.

"A little…"

Cerise seemed to understand exactly what she meant, and she nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way, or to hurt you. I just thought, with the rumors and all…"

"Wait," Briar cut in, obviously lost, "What did you say?"

"I shouldn't have gotten so upset." Darling shook her head, not quite ignoring Briar but also not getting straight to the answer, "I should have-should have just said something."

Cerise smiled softly. "But you did get upset, and it was still because of something I said without thinking. I'm sorry." She didn't answer Briar's question, either, and Darling was grateful.

"I'm lost." Apple said, deadpan. The others giggled nervously, and even Darling smiled a bit.

Her smile faded, however, when she realized she had to tell the others. Sure Cerise was okay, but what about them? Why would them make being _that way_ sound so bad if they weren't somehow against it?

The thought terrified her and turned her blood to ice water. She didn't want to lose her friends, especially not over something like that.

"It's… It's hard to explain…" Darling looked down at her lap, then back up at Cerise, who nodded in understanding.

Now that she had permission, Cerise pondered how to phrase what she meant. "After Blondie's announcement I ran into Darling. I…" She hung her head, embarrassed, as she realized what she had actually said, "I said that people wouldn't think you guys were gay. I kind of said it… Bad."

The sound of the actual word made Darling gulp and make a strangled sound in the back of her throat. She ducked her head as the feeling of dread and panic flushed her system again, and Raven hugged her a little tighter.

There was a moment of uncertain silence before Blondie cut in. "I'm still… Confused."

"I'm gay."

The announcement shocked Darling as much as it did anyone else. She hadn't actually planned on saying it, but it was true. She wanted to really explain, to talk about princesses and damsels and heroes, but it wasn't a good time. Not yet.

"I… Everyone's talking about how much better it is now, how we're not like that, a-and…" She covered her face with her hands as another bout of sadness washed through her. Raven's grip never loosened, and it was the only thing that assured her she hadn't lost all of her friends.

Cerise moved so she was on the other side of Darling and leaned against her. "'M sorry, Darling." It was a sad whisper, and Darling knew Cerise understood her. It made her feel a little better.

Apple fanned her face in her attempts not to cry. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't consider how this all would affect you; I thought it would be good for both of us without even asking."

"We all could have been more careful." Blondie said gently, careful not to blame anyone without letting anyone go. They had all been part of the relief, some even part of the rumors. None of them disliked Darling and they all drew in closer to her in a kind of group hug.

"We'll fix it." Briar promised, "We'll find a way."

The others agreed, and Darling felt all the stress from before melt away. Shakily and with the help of Raven and Cerise, she stood up. The others all wrapped themselves around her and she felt warmth and love that she desperately needed.

"'N we don't care." Raven murmured as they gathered around, "We want you to be happy."

The strength of the hug increased, which told Darling they all felt the same.

With a final sigh of relief, Darling truly relaxed for the first time since the Dragon Games.

"Thanks, guys."


End file.
